Stop-motion for knitting-machines.



PATENTED OCT. 2, 1906.

I. TAYLOR. STOP MOTION FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27,1906.

ZZZ/612%, 2 Z07 IO machines, and has reference more particu- UNITED STATES g TATEIvT *(iEEI E.

FRANK TAYLOR, OF NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR To THE BRITISH HOSIERY AND ELECTROLYTIC BLEACHING COMPANY, LIMITED, OF

LONDON, ENGLAND.

STOP-MOTION FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

7 5 Specification ofLetters Eatent.

Patented Oct. 2, 1906.

Application filed January 27,1906. Eerie-1N0- 298,266.

To all whom 211'; may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK TAYLOR, me 'chanic, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 64 Chandos street, Coppice Road, Nottingham, in the county of Nottingham, England, have invented a certain new and useful Stop-Motion for Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specifica- This invention relates to hosiery and like larly to contrivances for throwing the needles out of action at certain times when passing the feeders, such contrivances being de signed to act mainly as safety devices for use chiefly on hosiery-machines for the pu ose of arding against the consequences 0 the accidental breaking of one or more of the yarns.

The invention is-specially applicable to hosiery-m: chines 'having a large number of feederssay up to sixteen or more-such, for instance, as referred to in the specification of United States Patent No. 762,142, dated June 7, 1904.

The main object of the invention is to iltilard against the occurrence of what are own as press-offs or gaps in the work,

(with the consequent damage to the needles,)

due to breakage of a yarn, or to reduce to a minimum the extent of the press-off should it occur.

In ordinary safety devices, such as are known as stop-motions, the breakage of a yarn is caused to effect the stoppa e of the machine; but this takes an apprecia le time to act, and a considerable amount of work is spoiled, and a very large number of needles may become unthreaded-that is to say, lose their loopsbefore the stop-action can operate, and the machine may be seriously damaged. According to the present invention, however, it is only the parts appertaining to the particular feeder where the break has occurred that are affected, the action of the improved safety device being such-that the cams no longer lift the needles when passing this feeder, and the said'needles simply remain idle without losing their loops. ."In fact, they carry the loops from the previous feeder along with them until they reach'the next feeder, whose yarn is unbroken, whereupon they operate as usual. Hence there is practically no interruption in the continuity of the knitting-that is to say, inthe fabric itself the only efiect of a breakage (or breakages) being that one (or more, as the case maybe) yarn less is fed to the work and a (slight) reduction of speed of output or manufacture results until the broken yarn is restored. The principleon which the invention depends, therefore, is the provision of an antipress-off device for putting the needlef cam at any particular feeder out of operation the instant a breakage of the yarn occurs at that feeder, or should abobbin emptyitself or an end come n which may have been broken in winding no ole or gap would occur. This cam thenfremains out of action until the yarn I 1s rethreaded and the device is reset by the operator; but no press-off hole or gap or only a very small one occurs in the work, except, perhaps, in extreme cases where the break occurs close to the feeder-eye, and even then theextent of the press-off is still only very small, being measured by the extremely short -Interval required for the device to act, and

the working of the-machine is not interfered with, so that even if the attendant failed to notice the breakage no damage would result.

Accordin to one example of an arrangement embo ying the invention the cam may be made with its lift portioni. 6., that for raising the needlesas a separate piece or slide and be provided with a in extending through a slotin the cam-cylin er. This pin is normally raised to keep the cam in the working position by a wedge-shaped piece or head at the end of a swiveling arm. The arm extends from a vertical axle, which also carries at its upper end a counterweighted lever or feeler normally kept raised by the yarn as it passes to the feeder. In combination .with this feeler-lever is a set of studs or projections on any convenient part of the machine, such part being so chosen that the projections revolve past the lever, or vice versa. Should the yarn break, the lever drops instantly and is struck by (or strikes) one of the studs or projections, thus moving the swiveling arm aside, so releasing the pin and allowing.- the cam-slide to drop out of action. After the. yarn is replaced the a tendant need only press the arm into position again, when the wedge-piece acts on the pin and again raises the lift cam or slide into act a In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, reference will now be made to the accompanyi drgwings, in whiclh the same is illlistrate d by way of exam e,

n the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of one form of the feeler and swiveling arm, the adjacent or associated parts of the safety deand of the knitting machine being indicated in section for the sake of clearness, the machine in this case being understood to have a revolving cylinder. Fig. 2 is a front or end view of the said feeler and swiveling arm. Fig. 3 is adetail View, toalarger scale, indicating the manner in which the cam'is formed, so that the lift portion can slide up and down in order to come into action or to drop out of action. Fig. .4: illustrates an alternatiye .or modification which may be adopted in the construction of the feeler.

Referring more particularly o ig 1 n 2, a. is oneof the needles of the machine. I) is the needleecylinder, which in this case re.- yolves. c is the stationary .camrcylinder, havin cams c and 0 inside it in the ordinary way, and d is the main platform or. table of th machine. a is any convenient revolving ring or part adapted to rotate with the cylinder and suitable for carrying the series of studs or the like f, hereinafterreferred to. It may for instance, be an ordinary part of the machine, or it may be a special ring sliding round on a fixed ring or table e, as may be most convenient, according to the constructilopdof machine to which the invention is ap- P 1 As regardsthe parts to which the inven? tion more particularly relates-'11. a, the safety arrangement or deyice-.-the lower cam c, which is what is termed the liftcam, is made in the form of a slide and is ar: ranged to work up and down, as indicated more clearly in 3, the upper cam c for fore the needles down being made fixed, as usual. The said lower or lift cam 0 works in a suitable groove or recess, such as c, in which it is guided in any convenient way, such, for instance, as by undercutting the edges .of the groove. From the cam projects a pin .0, Fig. 1, working through a short slot or aperture 0 in the camfcylinder a. By means of this pin the cam-slide c can be pushed up or down, its upper or working position being indicated by dotted lines, Fig. 3, the lower or full-line position being that in which it is out of action or idle, so that the needleebutts a pass clear across from one fiat surface cto the other, a, without touching the cam .c at all, and consequently without being t e approximately horizontal wedge-shaped head g of the arm 9. This arm is mounted on a vertical spindle h working in a sleeve or collar h carried by a bracket h on the table (1. At its upper end the spindle h carries the feeler-arm t, which may be otany suitable kind, but in the present example is shown as consisting of a plain lever pivoted at h in a fork h" at the top of the spindle. At one end of the feeler-arm i is an adjustable counter.- weight i or a spring or the like, while at the other end is a downwardly-projecting nib i In this case the nib forms an angle or bond, as at i under which the yarn or thread 7' can be bent in its passage to the yarn-feeder j, although an eyelet may be provided for the yarn at the end of the feeler. The construe.- tion of the said feeler-arm may be modified in various ways so long as the arrangement is such that the yarn normally keeps its nib .or point i or the part correspondmg thereto, clear of the studs f, which are reyolying be? neath it. Should a break, however, occur in the yarn, the said feeler-arm i will be allowed to drop (See dotted line, 1.) In the latter position the studs f will instantly strike the nib '1'. and trip or knock aside the feeler-lever, the spindle 72-, and the arm g. These parts being then in the position of the dotted lines, Fig. 2, the pin 0 is no longer supported by the wedge-piece g, and the cam 0 immediately drops into the lowest position and allows the needles to pass without operating them, thus avoiding any risk of their becoming unthreaded at the broken feeder and allowing them to remain at rest until they reach the next feeder, where the yarn is unbroken. One alternative form of feelerarm is shown in Fig. 4, in which the arm itself, i, is fixed and has a sliding or drop pin i working through a hole or eye in its extremity i The pin is normally held up clear of the stud f by the yarn, as before; but instantly the latter breaks it dro s into the path of the studs, trips the fee er arrange..- ment, and allows the cam c to drop out of action. In either case in order to reset the parts it is only necessary to press the swivelmg arm g of the feeler arrangement back into the full-line position, Fig. 2, when the wedge g inserts itself under the pin and again raises the cam, the motion being stopped by a lip or flange g which comes in contact with the pin. In other words, it is not necessary to manipulate the said pin or the cam in any way, a simple pressure sidewise on the arm g be I ",8,

being sufficient to restore the parts to the purpose of preventing the formation of pressworking position. offs, substantially as described. What I claim, and desire to secure by Let- 4. In a hosiery or knitting machine, the 30 ters Patent of the United States, iscombination of a needle-cam, means for mov 1. A hosiery-machine having latch-neeing such cam into orout of position to engage dles,'cams for raising and lowering said neethe needles, and means for causing the cam dles in the knitting action, and means for to assume it's inoperative or idle position on throwing said cams out of action on the the breakage of a yarn in order to enable the 5 breakage of ayarn, substantially as described. needles 'to pass without losing their loops IO 2. In a hosiery or knitting machine, the and without stop ing the machine, substancombination of a plurality of yarn-feeders, a tially as described cam at each feeder for operating the needles, 5. In a hosiery or knitting machine having and means for rendering any needle-cam ina plurality of feeders, the combination of a 40 operative when the yarn of the corresponding movable needle-cam, a feeler arrangement feeder breaks, in order to enable the needles for controlling the osition ofsaid cam, a to remain idle when passing the feeder where wedge-shaped piece or retaining the needlethe break has occurred so preventing the neecam in its normal working position, and dles losing their loops, substantially as and means for disengaging said wedge on the 45 for the purposes indicated. breakage of a yarn. 2o 3. In a hosiery or knitting machine, the In testimony whereof I have hereunto set combination of a plurality of yarn-feeders, a my hand, in presence of two subscribing witcam at each feeder for operating the needles, nesses, this 10th day of January, 1906.

and means whereby on the breaka e of ayarn, 7 the corresponding needle-cam is put out o FRANK TAX 25 operation and the needles are allowed to pass Witnesses:

without losing their loops and remain idle uni WM. FACON,

til the next yarn-feeder is reached, for the l G. DEVERILL. 

